Prep Rally

For matter of hours, Texas sprinter appeared to have new all-time prep 100-meter record

It was all too good to be true. In a prep track meet at Duncanville (Texas) High, a budding sprinter recorded a blazing 9.74-second 100-meter dash.

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South Grand Prairie sprinter Abraham Hall — Rivals.com

As any time below 10 seconds tends to set off alarm bells for future Olympic consideration, the victorious time of South Grand Prairie (Texas) High sprinter Abraham Hall turned plenty of heads. A time of 9.74 would be the fastest prep 100-meter sprint in recorded history, easily breaking the standing mark of 10.01 seconds. In fact, it would be just a whisker away from Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt's world record of 9.58 seconds, making Hall a surprising contender for Olympic medals this summer.

Yet, none of those considerations are now on the table because Hall's time was too good to be true. As reported by the Dallas Morning News and other Dallas-area outlets, the mechanized FlashTiming system at Duncanville's track was inaccurate for exactly two events … and the 100 meters was one of them. According to Duncanville coach Derrick Dorris, the malfunction was caused by an error with the starter's pistol, which ties in to the overall timing system.

Without the working FlashTiming system, Hall's race was timed by hand. That lack of an accurate automated time ensured that the South Grand Prairie senior wouldn't be setting any records, even if his race was a blazing one, as Dorris made clear.

"It was a hand-held time,'' Dorris told the Morning News. "It was obviously wind-aided, too. In my guesstimation, I would say [Hall's time] was in the 10.2, 10.3 range."